Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

This time, he was even more excessive than in the first half.

Yu Fei saw more than once how Mason dribbled from the backcourt to the frontcourt on his own, and then waved his hand for his teammates to spread out, engaging in a slow isolation play on one side. Although his shooting percentage looked alright, he had completely isolated his teammates from the game.

It was as if the game was his own show.

Coach Karl tolerated Mason's behavior, and no other teammate dared to stand up and criticize this infamous tough guy.

Mason's solo act exacerbated the Bucks' collapse.

Less than five minutes into the second half, the gap had widened to 24 points.

Once again, Mason went for an isolation play and was blocked by the helping defender, Yu Fei.

Then, Yu Fei picked up the loose ball, and once in the frontcourt, he suddenly launched a trail three from the top of the arc.

"Swish!"

With a quarter and a half remaining, the Bucks fans had already started leaving the arena.

They were disappointed with the team, although they hadn't held much hope to begin with.

Since the early '70s when Jabbar left Milwaukee citing a "lack of belonging," the Bucks had been spinning their wheels until the late '70s under Coach Don Nelson's leadership, and with the arrival of stars like Sidney Moncrief, they witnessed the second peak era in the team's history. Sadly, this team, definitely championship material in the '70s, encountered the peak Lakers and Celtics led by Magic Bird in the '80s.

Disappointment, continued disappointment, dissolution, and then a quiet despair.

This is why the Bucks could never replace the Packers in Wisconsin.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Glenn Robinson, due to discomfort in his leg, decided to leave the game early.

Coach George Karl had nothing to say, as their fate was already sealed.

But Karl's off-court remarks about Big Dog lacking toughness would only cause double the hurt on such a night.

Fei didn't play much in the fourth quarter and soon took a rest.

He didn't like padding stats during garbage time, and neither did Jordan.

The entire fourth quarter was uninteresting since the outcome was already clear.

At the end, the Wizards won against the Bucks with a substantial margin of 116 to 88, successfully taking away a victory from the road game.

Post-game interview

"No words can describe how proud I am of Frye, he was amazing! Truly amazing! You can see he's getting more and more comfortable, and his chemistry with Michael is growing stronger, he proved he can relieve Michael's pressure, which is what we've been looking for all along, and he finally showed up!" — Collins lavishly praised Fei's performance.

"Playing time is something you have to earn. If you play for 10 minutes and only get one rebound, plus you make a turnover, and don't make a single shot, they're not going to put you back in. Keep your head up, it's just your rookie year, your chance will come sooner or later, don't be discouraged, and don't lose heart." — Collins responded to Kwame Brown's limited playing time.

"Michael is the greatest player of all time, and also the smartest. He knew from the start that tonight belonged to Frye, so he did a lot of work that the stats don't show. I'm glad he could finally get a good night's rest." — Collins commented on Jordan playing only 27 minutes tonight.

"What I told him was, if he gets complacent about this, it might be the best game of his professional career. If he wants to get better, then he needs to forget about tonight's game after it's over. I hope he took it in, you know, he's not one to take advice." — Jordan talking about Yu Fei's performance.

"Because we've started to have success, our goals are higher. Now everyone thinks we will be strong contenders in the playoffs. If we keep succeeding, our goals will become closer. So for now, we at least should focus on the present, continue to concentrate and secure victories in our games, and the team's improvement will become a reality." — Jordan discussing the team's future.

"I'm not going to answer that question." — Jordan when asked about his marriage.

"Frye is just proving himself to those old heads who wouldn't pick him for the All-Star game because of his age." — Whitney talking about Yu Fei's performance.

"We're not tough enough, we're not decisive enough, we play messily, we're not tough, without responsibility, we're the worst team, it's unacceptable to let a rookie play like that, I hope everyone goes home and reflects on themselves!" — Karl expressing dissatisfaction with the team's players.

"Frye messed us up, I think we made a lot of mistakes, but I have to admit he played well. He's a great rookie. So, does Michael still want to trade him?" — Karl discussing Yu Fei's performance.

"No. 44 is good, but the problem is with us. We're disorganized, not working as a unit, really bad. We can't possibly win playing like this." — Ray Allen talking about the game.

"What am I supposed to do if my teammates don't play like this every night and don't provide me with enough support?" — Mason criticizing his teammates for their poor performances.

"I don't care who the coach is, if I'm injured, I won't participate in practice. I don't care who you are. I don't care how many games you've won or your historical achievements. If my body is not feeling right, if my body tells me I can't continue, then I won't. And it's not that I don't like practice. Sometimes I disagree with some of the practices because I feel uncomfortable, but I think all players are like that. Even when Karl was playing, he probably disagreed with some of the training he went through as a player." — Big Dog Robinson refuting questions about his toughness.

"Frye, this is the third triple-double of the season and the first time in your career you've scored 40 points. What motivated you to achieve such a performance?"

"You know, no one is more motivated than me right now to prove themselves."

"Why?"

"You really don't know? Standing before you is a poor guy who missed out on the All-Star selection during his rookie season because of age and seniority issues. Do you think this poor guy should go all out to prove himself?"

"So, was this game a protest to the league?"

"Not really a protest, you know, I'm not a conceited person. I also realize the league has their own reasons for doing things, so at most tonight I'm just suggesting that some old heads in the corrupt league office should retire earlier. The only reason they prefer old heads for the All-Star team over the young ones is because they are old heads themselves."

"So you hate old people?"

"I don't hate old people, but it's kind of hard not to hate these old people."

"Hmm?"

"Right, if you don't understand, that's good, if I explained everything to you, it would be hard for you to grow." — Yu Fei's post-game interview.

⑴ "The Promise" is such a bad movie that it's irredeemable, but its terrifying predictive power brings it to a metaphysical level. There are also two unintentionally comedic moments in this movie that I can never forget (2), (3).

⑵ Wu Huan (played by Nicholas Tse) to Qing Cheng (played by Cecilia Cheung): "You ruined my chance to be a good person!"

⑶ Chen Kaige: "You'll only understand my movie after five years." Indeed, Qing Cheng's school uniform is very seductive.

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